Improvement in railroad-switches



- UNITED STATES Patent rrrca,

I NATHAN AMES, OF SAUGUS OENTRE, MASSAOHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN FAiLFtOAD-SWITCHES.

specification forming part of Leters Patent No. 39,269, datcd July 21,1863.

To aZZ whom, it may con/cera:

Be it known that I, NA'rHAN AMEs, of Saugus Centre, in the countyofEsseX and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulAutomatic Railroad Turn-Out; and I do hereby deelare that thefollowingisafull, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation ofthe same, reference being' had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top view of astraight track, A A', and aturn-out, B B'; Fig. 2, an end view, and Figza side view, of a horserailroadcar provided with adepressible shaft andfriction-wheel.

Like parts are indicated by the same letters in all the drawings;

The nature of my invention consists in dispensing with the ordinaryswitch or movable frog, (by which a caris switched from a direct trackto a right or left hand turnout by the flanges of' the Wheels pressin gwith a shearing grinding contact against the side of the switch andrails, whereby the wheels, switch, and rails are rapidly worn, and muchunnecessary power eonsumed,) and in substituting therefor, attached to acar or locomotive, a pendent or depressible shaft and frictionwheel tobear against and roll upon either the sides of the turn-out rails, orthe side of a central rail or director parallel with them, by means ofwhich devices a person riding on a car or locomotive may readily turn ordirect it from the straight or direct track onto a turn-out, and thusavoid the necessity of employing a tender for every switch or turn-out.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willnow describe its construction and operation.

A A' are the rails of a straight track, and B B' those of a turn-out.

I) and F are the usual guide-rails.

The usual switch or movable frog is entirely dispensed with, and thecontiguous ends of the rails A' and Dare broughtto a point, as shown inFig. 1, somewhat back of the point where they would naturally meet, inorder to give room for any lateral Variation of the wheels from theright direction;

(J, Fig. 1, is a flat piece of iron.

E is the central rail or director, so shaped that its concave side maybe parallel with the turn out rail B' and confined to the sleepers orrails in any suitable permanent manner, and placed a little-i. c., theradius ofthe roller G-to the left of the center between the rails A A'and B B'. One end, e, of this rail or director is beveled, as shown iuFig. l. The concave side of E is also beveled under, as represented inFig. 2, for the purpose which I shall hereinafter describe. For aleft-hand turn-out, of course, the position of the director E has simplyto be reversed. It is also ob\'i ous that instead of the centraldirector,E, a depressible shaft or wheel might be made to act directly'on the side of the turn-out rail B'; but as this would involve thenecessity ofemploying two shafts and wheels-oue on each side of a car-inorder to turn either to the right or left, I prefer the arrangcmentshown in the drawings.

H is the depressible shaft, of round iron or steel, passing throughsuitable bearings in the front and longitudinal center of the platformP, as represented in Figs and 3. This shaft may belong enough to bereadilyoperated by the hand, or so short as to be operated by the footof a driver or engineer. In Fig. 3 both constructions are represented.

I is a spiral spring' round the shaft H, and

rest'ing on the platform, by means of which 'the shaft is raised, asshown in Fig. 3, when not depressed by the foot or hand of the driver orenginecr, or held down by the action ot' the bevel on the rail E andwheel G, as shown in Fig. 2. The lower end of the shaft H is pro- Videdwith a wheel, G, which may either be a fixture on H or turn upon it asan axle. In case G is fast to H the latter will turn iu its bearings.The periphery ot' G is beveled to. correspond with the bevelon theconcave side of the director E, and the design of this bevel is toprevent the wheel G (when once pressed down, as in Fig. 2) from risin gtill it has passed the whole length of the said director, when it willbe released and raised by the action of the spring I, so as not tostrike the intersecting rails, but always rise automatically with outthe attention of the driver or engineer as soon as it escapes from underthe beveled concave edge of the director, thereby allowing the topsurface ofsaid director to be no higher than the general surface of therails,which, on ahorserailroad and in a much-traveled street, is amatter of great importance. Thus, if a car be moving in the (lirectionof the arrow in Fig.

'1, and the driver or engineer Wishes to direct it onto the turn-out BBf, before reaching the director E he simply depresses with his foot orhand the shaft H, when the wheel G, bearing against the concave side ofE, will obviously incline and carry the front of the car in thedirection of the turn-out B B', and effectually direct the car-Wheelsonto it. And this isaccornplished with niuch less power, friction, andwear ofwheels and rails than in the usua-l niethod i. e., where the caris forced by means of the Wheel-flanges pressing' With a g'rinding'shearing contact on the side of the switch and rail. If the driver orengineer wishes to continue on the straight track A A/ he does notdc'press the shat't H, but allows the car to followits natural course,the tendency of which is always straight alle-ad.

Wy invention is very strong, simple., inoxpensive, and not liable to getout of order or be clogg'ed bystones, gravel, dirt, snow, or ice, Whileit is equally applicable to any kind of a railroad and to cars propelledeither by horses or steam.

Having th us described the construction and operation of niy invention,What I claiin as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The director E, constructed substantially as set forth, and for thepurpose described.

2. The beveled friction-rollcr G, or its equivalent, iu combination withthe spring I and beveled director E, substantially as set forth, and forthe purpose described.

N ATHAN AMES.

'itnesses:

J AMEs D. WHELPLEY, JOHN O. PE'r'rEs.

